Attorney Alexandra Shepard Named San Francisco’s First Inspector General

SAN FRANCISCO — Controller Greg Wagner announced today that after a months-long national recruitment, Alexandra (Alex) Shepard has been selected to serve as San Francisco’s Inspector General, effective January 5, 2026. Shepard’s appointment as Inspector General has been approved by Mayor Lurie and will be official once vetted by the Board of Supervisors in mid-November.

With a distinguished career spanning over 25 years, Alex brings extensive investigative, legal, and leadership experience in conducting complex investigations into criminal antitrust, fraud, and other violations. She most recently served as Assistant United States Attorney where she worked with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute a wide variety of cases — including public corruption, fraud, civil rights, money laundering, tax evasion, and narcotics trafficking. Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Alex spent over fourteen years as a Trial Attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, where she investigated and prosecuted domestic and international price fixing and bid rigging conspiracies. During her time in the Antitrust Division, Alex also served as a technical advisor to the Ukrainian government on competition and anticorruption issues in Kyiv, Ukraine. She is a graduate of Stanford Law School and Dartmouth College.

“Alex Shepard has the ideal combination of experience and perspective to serve as San Francisco’s first Inspector General. She brings exceptional legal and investigative expertise to the role. As a San Francisco resident she cares about the future of our city — but as an outsider to local government and politics she will also bring a fresh, independent perspective to promote accountability and integrity in City government,” said Controller Greg Wagner. “I know that she’ll be an important contributor to proactively preventing and rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse.”

“Our administration is working every day to deliver results for the people of San Francisco,” said Mayor Lurie. “I look forward to working with San Francisco's first Inspector General, Alex Shepard, to strengthen oversight and ensure our city’s government operates with transparency and accountability.”

Alex will be the City and County of San Francisco’s first-ever Inspector General — a new position with enhanced legal powers within the Controller’s Office that San Franciscans voted to create in November 2024. As Inspector General, she will lead investigations into fraud, waste, and abuse, report on public integrity, and make policy recommendations. The Inspector General will partner with City agencies like the City Attorney’s Office, District Attorney’s Office, and Ethics Commission that have related mandates.

More information can be found at sf.gov/inspectorgeneral.